Sample cryogenic storage pipe and device

ABSTRACT

The present application discloses a sample cryogenic storage pipe. The sample cryogenic storage pipe includes a pipe body and a one-piece pipe cap removably configured in the pipe body; there is an opening portion on an upper portion of the pipe body, a sleeve of the pipe body is provided below the opening portion, and a sealed cavity is formed between the sleeve and a pipe wall of the pipe body; the pipe cap includes a pipe cap mating portion and a sample loading rod integrally formed with the pipe cap mating portion, and the sample loading rod, on at least one side thereof, is provided with a storage groove for storing a sample; and the pipe cap mating portion is removably configured on the opening portion of the pipe body, and the sample loading rod is able to be inserted into the sleeve of the pipe body or be removed from the sleeve of the pipe body. The present application also discloses a sample cryogenic storage device. The sample cryogenic storage pipe and device provided by the present application have features of simple structure and easy operation where there is no residual liquid nitrogen when in use.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No.201510316797.0, filed on Jun. 10, 2015, and entitled “SAMPLE CRYOGENICSTORAGE PIPE AND DEVICE,” which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to sample storage technologies, and moreparticularly, to a sample cryogenic storage pipe and a sample cryogenicstorage device for storing all kinds of tissues and cells of abiological, medical laboratory or the like.

BACKGROUND

Currently, a loading tool, used to cryogenically store all kinds oftissues and cells for a biological, medical laboratory or the like,mainly includes three categories: a cryoloop, a cryostraw and acryogenic loading rod.

There is a higher requirement for a ring mounting technique when thecryoloop is in use. The respective operation can only be smoothlycompleted by a strictly-trained and skilled operator. And because thecryoloop is made of a plastic material and the loading rod is made of ametal material, a certain gap is formed there between, so that liquidnitrogen will reside in the gap. During a melting process, a largeamount of bubbles are released or cracks are appeared due tovolatilization of the liquid nitrogen, causing loss of one or moresamples.

The operation is very complicated when cryostraws and cryogenic loadingrods are in use. A longer pipe body occupies lots of storage space andspace utilization is low. The pipe body has a smaller diameter andsample information cannot be marked clearly and completely on the pipebody, and thus confusion and/or uncertainty easily occurs in use.

SUMMARY

The present application discloses a sample cryogenic storage pipe and asample cryogenic storage device with features of simple structure andeasy operation where there is no residual liquid nitrogen in use.

In one exemplary embodiment, a sample cryogenic storage pipe includes apipe body and a one-piece pipe cap removably assembled to the pipe body;there is an opening portion on an upper portion of the pipe body, asleeve of the pipe body is provided below the opening portion, and asealed cavity is formed between the sleeve and a pipe wall of the pipebody; the pipe cap comprises a pipe cap mating portion and a sampleloading rod integrally formed with the pipe cap mating portion, and thesample loading rod, on at least one side thereof, is provided with astorage groove for storing a sample; the pipe cap mating portion isremovably configured on the opening portion of the pipe body, and thesample loading rod is able to be inserted into the sleeve of the pipebody or be removed from the sleeve of the pipe body.

In another exemplary embodiment, a sample cryogenic storage deviceincludes a sample cryogenic storage pipe and an operating lever; thesample cryogenic storage pipe includes a pipe body and a one-piece pipecap removably configured in the pipe body; there is an opening portionon an upper portion of the pipe body, a sleeve of the pipe body isprovided below the opening portion, and a sealed cavity is formedbetween the pipe body and a pipe wall; the pipe cap includes a pipe capmating portion and a sample loading rod integrally formed with the pipecap mating portion, wherein the sample loading rod, on at least one sidethereof, is provided with a storage groove for storing a sample; thepipe cap mating portion is removably configured on the opening portionof the pipe body, and the sample loading rod is able to be inserted intothe sleeve of the pipe body or be removed from the sleeve of the pipebody; and the operating lever is removably connected with the pipe capmating portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a structure diagram of the sample cryogenic storage pipeprovided by the present application;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the pipe body;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the pipe body provided with a markingregion;

FIG. 4 is top view of the pipe body;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the pipe cap;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the pipe cap;

FIG. 7 is top view of the pipe cap;

FIG. 8 is sectional view along A-A of the pipe cap shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged schematic diagram of a top mating portion;

FIG. 10 is a structural diagram of the sample cryogenic storage deviceprovided by the present application;

FIG. 11 is a main view of an operating lever; and

FIG. 12 is a top view of the operating lever.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Detailed embodiments of the present application are hereinafter givenwith reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein identical referencenumerals being used to represent identical elements. It should be notedthat the words “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”, “up”, “top” and“bottom”, used hereinafter, mean orientations in the drawings, and thewords “inside” and “outside” respectively mean the orientations towardand away from geometric center of a certain portion.

The sample cryogenic storage pipe and the sample cryogenic storagedevice of the present application are mainly used to cryogenically storeall kinds of tissues and cells in a biological or medical laboratory. Atissue or cell to be cryogenically stored is called as a sample, and thepipe and device for cryogenically storing the tissue or cell arecorrespondingly called as the sample cryogenic storage pipe and thesample cryogenic storage device, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 1-6, a sample cryogenic storage pipe 100 provided byan embodiment of the present application includes a pipe body 1 and aone-piece pipe cap 2 removably provided within the pipe body 1.

The pipe body 1, on the upper portion thereof, is provided with a pipebody opening portion 11, a sleeve 12 of the pipe body is provided belowthe opening portion 11, and a sealed cavity 14 is formed between thesleeve 12 and a pipe wall 10 of the pipe body 1.

The pipe cap 2 includes a pipe cap mating portion 21 and a sampleloading rod 22 integrally formed with the pipe cap mating portion 21,and the sample loading rod 22, on at least one side thereof, is providedwith a storage groove 221 for storing samples.

The pipe cap mating portion 21 is removably configured on the openingportion 11 of the pipe body, and the sample loading rod 22 may beinserted into the sleeve 12 or removed from the sleeve 12.

That is, the sample cryogenic storage pipe 100 mainly consists of thepipe body 1 and the pipe cap 2. The pipe cap 2 is a one-piece pipe cap,which is integrally formed as a whole, so that there is no gap betweenall of connections of the pipe cap 2, preventing residual liquidnitrogen from being trapped in the pipe cap 2.

The pipe body 1, on the upper end thereof, is provided with a pipe bodyopening portion 11, and is sealed on the bottom end thereof. The pipebody 1 is provided with a pipe body sleeve 12 therein, which is locatedbelow the opening portion 11. The sealed cavity 14, used for storing arefrigerant 3, is formed between the sleeve 12 and the pipe wall 10 ofthe pipe body 1. In an exemplary embodiment, the sleeve 12 is located inthe center of the pipe body 1 so that the sealed cavity 14 evenlysurrounds the sleeve 12, and thus the refrigerant 3 is evenly arrangedaround the sleeve 12, to make the ambient temperature around the sleeve12 consistent.

The pipe cap 2 includes the pipe cap mating portion 21 and the sampleloading rod 22. The sample loading rod 22 is integrated with the pipecap mating portion 21, so as to form the one-piece pip cap 2 mentionedabove. There is no gap between the sample loading rod 22 and the pipecap mating portion 21. Therefore, there is no residual liquid nitrogenwhen the pipe cap is removed from the liquid nitrogen. Without residualliquid nitrogen in use, the respective defect is avoided, that is, thesamples will not be lost or cracked due to a large amount of bubblesreleased by the volatilization of the liquid nitrogen during cryogenicstorage.

The sample loading rod 22 is provided with a storage groove 221 thereonfor storing samples. Certainly, two or more storage grooves 221 can besymmetrically provided as required. The one or more samples are placedin the storage groove 221 in use. The one or more samples are not lostfrom the storage groove 221 during the movement of the device.

During the connecting operation, the pipe cap mating portion 21 isconfigured on the opening portion 11 and removably connected with theopening portion 11. That is, the pipe cap mating portion 21 can bemounted on the opening portion 11 or removed from the opening portion11. A connection way, such as a thread connection, a key connection, apin connection or the like, may be adopted.

After the connecting operation, the sample loading rod 22 is insertedinto the sleeve 12, wherein the bottom end of the sleeve 12 is sealedand the storage groove 221 is also located in the sleeve 12, so as toprevent the sample from being polluted by contacting with theenvironment. When the pipe cap mating portion 21 is removed, themovement of the sample loading rod 22 with the pipe cap mating portion21 enables the sample loading rod 22 to be pulled out of the sleeve 12.

In an exemplary embodiment, the pipe body 1, which is of a cylindricalshape or a cuboid shape, is made of a plastic material. The pipe cap 2is made of a metal material or plastic material, all parts (such as thepipe cap mating portion 21 and the sample loading rod 22) of which ismade of the same material, to ensure that all parts can be integrallyformed.

One of various metals (such as copper, iron, stainless steel, aluminummagnesium alloy, aluminum, tin, etc.) can be used as the metal material;and one of various plastics (such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene(PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS), ABS, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), and polyamide (PA), etc.) can be used as theplastic material.

In conclusion, by providing the pipe cap in a one-piece manner, the pipecap mating portion thereof is integrally formed with the sample loadingrod, and there is no gap there between, so that there is no residualliquid nitrogen in the gap when the pip cap is removed from the liquidnitrogen. The sample cryogenic storage pipe provided by the presentapplication avoids the respective defect, that is, the samples will notbe lost or cracked due to a large amount of bubbles released by thevolatilization of the liquid nitrogen during cryogenic storage duringstorage. Therefore, the loss of sample is avoided during the movement ofthe device.

Referring now to FIGS. 5-8 and 10, the pipe cap mating portion 21includes a top mating portion 23 for matching and connecting an externaloperating lever 4 and a bottom mating portion 24 for matching andconnecting the pipe body 1.

The top mating portion 23 includes a side wall 231 provided around theperimeter of the bottom mating portion 24 and at least one bayonetportion 25 provided on the side wall 231. A mounting cavity 26, used forinserting one end of the operating lever 4 into therein, is formedbetween the side wall 231 and the bottom mating portion 24.

The top mating portion 23 and the bottom mating portion 24 areintegrally formed to form the pipe cap mating portion 21. The side wall231 of the top mating portion 23 is provided around the perimeter of thebottom mating portion 24. Thus, the mounting cavity 26 is formed betweenthe side wall 231 arranged in the surrounding manner and the bottommating portion 24. In order to match the external operating lever 4easily, the side wall 231 is provided with at least one bayonet portion25. In an exemplary embodiment, two bayonet portions 25 aresymmetrically provided.

In use, one end of the operating lever 4 is inserted into the mountingcavity 26 and is tightly locked in the mounting cavity 26 by the bayonetportion 25, so that it is convenient for the operating lever 4 to movethe pipe cap 2, so as to insert the pipe cap 2 into the liquid nitrogenor to remove the pipe cap 2 from the liquid nitrogen.

Referring now to FIG. 9, the bayonet portion 25 is an L-shaped bayonet251, wherein an opening 252 of the L-shaped bayonet 251 is formed on atop face 232 of the side wall 231. Two portions are integrally formedinto the bayonet 251 that is in a shape of L. These two portions are afirst portion 254 vertically provided on the side wall 231 and a secondportion 255 horizontally provided on the side wall 231. The firstportion 254 is communicated to the top face 232 of the side wall 231, sothat the opening 252 of the L-shaped bayonet 251 is formed on the topface 232 of the side wall 231. The second portion 255, that istransversally arranged, is located on the side wall 231.

As shown in FIG. 10, when one end of the operating lever 4 is insertedinto the mounting cavity 26, a protrusion 43 of the end of the operatinglever 4 enters into the bayonet portion 25 from the opening 252. Theprotrusion 43 first enters into the first portion 254 and then entersinto the second portion 255 by rotating the operating lever 4, so as toconnect the operating lever 4 with the pipe cap 2 together. Theoperating lever 4 can be removed by being rotated reversely.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a tail end of the L-shaped bayonet 251, whichis a tail end of the second portion 255, also forms an additionalbayonet 253 extending towards the top face 232 of the side wall 231. Theadditional bayonet 253 is integrally formed on the tail end of thesecond portion 255 and extends toward the top face 232, and theextending orientation is the same as that in the first portion 254.After the protrusion 43 enters into the second portion 255, theoperating lever 4 can continue to be rotated, so that the protrusion 43is located in the tail end of the second portion 255. At this time, theprotrusion 43 is tightened in the additional bayonet 253 by pulling upthe operating lever 4 and/or by an elastic component provided on the endof the operating lever 4, so as to tightly connect the operating lever 4with the pipe cap 2 together.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, a connection portion 13 of the pipe body isprovided between the opening portion 11 and the sleeve 12, and thebottom mating portion 24 is removably connected within the connectionportion 13 of the pipe body, and the top mating portion 23 covers theopening portion 11 of the pipe body. The bottom mating portion 24 can beconnected with the connection portion 13 of the pipe body by aconnection way such as a thread connection, a key connection or a pinconnection, so that the bottom mating portion 24 can be mounted in theconnection portion 13 of the pipe body, and also can be removed from theconnection portion 13 of the pipe body.

In an exemplary embodiment, both the pipe body 1 and the pipe cap 2 havecircular cross sections. The pipe body 1 has a diameter of 5-20 mm and aheight of 10-110 mm. The top mating portion 23 of the pipe cap 2 has adiameter of 5-20 mm and a height of 2-10 mm; the bottom mating portion24 has a diameter of 3-18 mm and a height of 2-10 mm; and the sampleloading rod 22 has a diameter of 0.5-16 mm and a height of 5-90 mm. Withreasonable height and width of pipe body 1 and the pipe cap 2, theutilization of the cryogenic storage space can be maximized.

Referring now to FIG. 13, the sealed cavity 14 is filled with therefrigerant 3. By placing the refrigerant 3 in the sealed cavity 14, thesample cryogenic storage pipe 100 outside the liquid nitrogen can bekept at a low temperature for a period of time. The refrigerant 3 in thepresent application is an ultralow temperature coolant. The ultralowtemperature coolant, being a high molecular polymer which has aplurality of different traits: liquid state, semi liquid state, allsolid state, soft gel state and hard gel state, can maintain an ultralowtemperature from −30□ to −80□ for a certain time-period. LD10-B1granular type, LD10-B2 gel type, LD10-B3 liquid type, LD10-B4 jellytype, LD10-B5 colloid type or LD10-B6 gel type can be the choice for therefrigerant 3.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the pipe cap mating portion 21 is provided witha vent 27 spaced apart from the sample loading rod 22, wherein the vent27 runs through upper and lower surfaces of the pipe cap mating portion21. The vent 27 is specifically provided at the bottom mating portion24, and runs through upper and lower surfaces of the bottom matingportion 24. The vent 27, spaced apart from the sample loading rod 22, isnot in line with the sample loading rod 22. The vent 27 can be providedon a main body of the bottom mating portion 24, or also can be providedat an edge of the bottom mating portion 24. The vent 27 maintains abalance between a gas-pressure in the sleeve of the pipe body and thepressure outside, which avoids the situation that the pipe cap 2 ispushed out or the pipe body bursts due to high pressure in the sleeve 12of the pipe body when the liquid nitrogen is volatilized, and avoids theloss of the samples.

In an exemplary embodiment, the cross-section of the storage groove 221is in a shape of U or in a shape of V. The storage groove 221 has alength of 0.5-82 mm and a depth of 0.2-8 mm, and also can be arranged inother form. In use, the one or more samples are maintained to be placedwithin the V-shaped or U-shaped storage groove 221. When the sampleloading rod is moved, the one or more samples remain within the V-shapedor U-shaped storage groove 221 so as to be avoided to be lost.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the pipe body 1 is provided with a markingregion 15 where information of the sample to be processed can be recodedfirst so that confusion is avoided. The marking region 15 may berectangular or square; and the marking region 15 may be a transparentcoating or a coating with respective color. In an exemplary embodiment,the coating with white color has an area of 20 mm2-6000 mm2.

In conclusion, the sample cryogenic storage pipe provided by the presentapplication, where there is no residual liquid nitrogen, has features ofsimple structure and easy operation; and the height and width of thepipe body and the pipe cap thereof are reasonable, so that utilizationof the cryogenic storage space can be maximized, and sample informationcan be marked in detail in the marking region, so as to avoid confusionand uncertainty.

As shown in FIG. 10, a sample cryogenic storage device 200 provided byan embodiment of the present application includes a sample cryogenicstorage pipe 100 and an operating lever 4.

As shown in FIGS. 1-6, the sample cryogenic storage pipe 100 includesthe pipe body 1 and the one-piece pipe cap 2 removably configured in thepipe body 1.

The pipe body 1, on the upper portion thereof, is provided with theopening portion 11, the sleeve 12 of the pipe body is provided below theopening portion 11, and the sealed cavity 14 is formed between thesleeve 12 and the pipe wall 10 of the pipe body 1.

The pipe cap 2 includes the pipe cap mating portion 21 and the sampleloading rod 22 integrated with the pipe cap mating portion 21, and thesample loading rod 22, on at least one side thereof, is provided withthe storage groove 221 for storing the samples.

The pipe cap mating portion 21 is removably configured on the openingportion 11 of the pipe body, and the sample loading rod 22 can beinserted into the sleeve 12 or removed from the sleeve 12. The operatinglever 4 is removably connected with the pipe cap mating portion 21.

That is, the sample cryogenic storage device 200 mainly consists of thesample cryogenic storage pipe 100 and the operating lever 4.

The structure, construction and working principle of the samplecryogenic storage pipe 100 have been introduced in detail hereinbefore,which will not be described redundantly herein.

The operating lever 4 is removably connected to the pipe cap matingportion 21, so that the operating lever 4 can match the pipe cap matingportion 21 in use, and thus moving the pipe cap 2. The pipe cap 2 isplaced in the pipe body 1. After the operation is completed, theoperating lever 4 is removed from the pipe cap 2 and the cryogenicstorage pipe is put into a corresponding storage position, so as tocryogenically store the samples.

In order to meet requirements of low temperature and refrigeration, thesealed cavity 14 is filled with the refrigerant 3, so that the samplecryogenic storage pipe 100 outside the liquid nitrogen can be kept at alow temperature for a period of time, which benefits the cryogenicstorage.

The operating lever 4 may be made of metal material or plastic material.One of various metals (such as copper, iron, stainless steel, aluminummagnesium alloy, aluminum, tin, etc.) can be used as the metal material;one of various plastics (such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP),polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS), ABS, polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA), polyamide (PA), etc.) can be used as the plastic material.

In conclusion, in the sample cryogenic storage device provided by thepresent application, by making the pipe cap in a one-piece form, thepipe cap mating portion thereof integrally formed with the sampleloading rod, and there is no gap there between, and there is no residualliquid nitrogen in the gap when the pip cap is removed from the liquidnitrogen, so as to avoid the respective defect that samples are lost dueto a large amount of bubbles released by the volatilization of theliquid nitrogen or cracks occurred in the volatilization of the liquidnitrogen during storage. By providing the storage groove on the sampleloading rod, it is avoided that samples are lost during the movement.The pipe cap is moved by the operating lever so that the respectiveoperation is convenient to cryogenically store the samples.

Referring now to FIGS. 10-12, the operating lever 4 includes a main body41 and a connection portion 42 provided on one end of the main body 41,and at least one outwardly extended protrusion 43 is arranged on alateral side 421 of the connection portion 42.

As shown in FIGS. 5-8, the pipe cap mating portion 21 includes a topmating portion 23 for matching and connecting the operating lever 4 anda bottom mating portion 24 for matching and connecting the pipe body 1.

The top mating portion 23 includes a side wall 231 provided around theperimeter of the bottom mating portion 24 and at least one bayonetportion 25 provided on the side wall 231, wherein the mounting cavity 26is formed between the side wall 231 and the bottom mating portion 24.

The connection portion 42 of the operating lever is removably matchedwithin the mounting cavity 26, and the protrusion 43 is removablyengaged within the bayonet portion 25.

The main body 41 of the operating lever and the connection portion 42 ofthe operating lever may be integrally formed with each other, thelateral side 421 of the connection portion 42 of the operating lever isprovided with at least one protrusion 43. The protrusion 43 extendsoutwardly, wherein “extend outwardly” means that the protrusion 43protrudes by extending toward the direction away from the connectionportion 42 of the operating lever, in the orientation that theprotrusion 43 is perpendicular to the main body 41 of the operatinglever. Two or more protrusions 43 can be symmetrically provided asrequired, the number of which corresponds to the number of the bayonetportions 25.

The connection portion 42 of the operating lever can be circular orsquare that matches the shape of the mounting cavity 26. A circularconnection portion may have a diameter of 2-18 mm and a height of 2-10mm. The main body 41 of the operating lever is a cylindrical or cuboidrod body. A cylindrical main body may have a diameter of 1-18 mm and aheight of 10-400 mm.

The structure and construction of the top mating portion 23 have beenintroduced in detail hereinbefore, which will not be describedredundantly herein.

The connection portion 42 of the operating lever is removably matchedwithin the mounting cavity 26, which means that the connection portion42 of the operating lever can be mounted and matched within the mountingcavity 26 and also can be removed from the mounting cavity 26. Theprotrusion 43 is removably engaged within the bayonet portion 25, whichmeans that the protrusion 43 can be engaged within the bayonet portion25 and also can be removed from the bayonet portion 25.

When the operating lever 4 is connected with the top mating portion 23,the connection portion 42 of the operating lever is matched within themounting cavity 26, and the protrusion 43 is engaged with the bayonetportion 25, so that a tight connection there between is achieved, inorder to conveniently move the pipe cap 2 into the liquid nitrogen orremove the pipe cap 2 from the liquid nitrogen. When the operating lever4 is removed from the top mating portion 23, the protrusion 43 isdisengaged from the bayonet portion 25, and the connection portion 42 ofthe operating lever is pulled out from the mounting cavity 26, toseparate the operating lever from the top mating portion, in order toconveniently place the pipe cap 2 in the pipe body 1 and cryogenicallystore the samples.

Referring now to FIGS. 8-12, the bayonet portion 25 is the L-shapedbayonet 251, the opening 252 of the L-shaped bayonet 251 is formed onthe top face 232 of the side wall 231. The protrusion 43 is engagedwithin the L-shaped bayonet 25.

As mentioned previously, for the L-shaped bayonet 251, two portions areintegrally formed into the L-shape. These two portions are the firstportion 254 vertically provided on the side wall 231 and the secondportion 255 horizontally provided on the side wall 231. The firstportion 254 is communicated to the top face 232 of the side wall 231, sothat the opening 252 of the L-shaped bayonet 251 is formed on the topface 232 of the side wall 231. The second portion 255, that istransversally arranged, is located on the side wall 231.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the connection portion 42 of the operatinglever is inserted into the mounting cavity 26, the protrusion 43 entersinto the bayonet portion 25 from the opening 252. The protrusion 43first enters into the first portion 254 and then enters into the secondportion 255 by rotating the operating lever 4, so as to connect theoperating lever 4 with the pipe cap 2 together. The protrusion 43 can beremoved from the L-shaped bayonet 251 by rotating the operating lever 4reversely.

Referring now to FIGS. 8-12, the tail end of the L-shaped bayonet 251also forms the additional bayonet 253 extending towards the top face 232of the side wall 231, and the protrusion 43 is engaged within theadditional bayonet 253.

The tail end of the L-shaped bayonet 251 is a tail end of the secondportion 255. The additional bayonet 253 is integrally formed on the tailend of the second portion 255, and extends toward the top face 232. Theextending direction is the same as that in the first portion 254. Afterthe protrusion 43 enters into the second portion 255, the operatinglever 4 can continue to be rotated, so that the protrusion 43 is on thetail end of the second portion 255. At this time, the protrusion 43 istightened in the additional bayonet 253 by pulling up the operatinglever 4 or by an elastic component provided on the end of the operatinglever 4, so as to tightly connect the operating lever 4 with the pipecap 2 together.

Referring now to FIGS. 10-12, the connection portion 42 of the operatinglever is also provided with an elastic component 44 which is in acompression state when the connection portion 42 of the operating leveris matched within the mounting cavity 26, in order to push theprotrusion 43 into the additional bayonet 253, so that the protrusion 43is tightened in the bayonet portion 25, so as to tightly connect theoperating lever 4 with the pipe cap 2 together. In an exemplaryembodiment, the elastic component 44 is a spring.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, the connection portion 13 of the pipe bodyis provided between the opening portion 11 and the sleeve 12, and thebottom mating portion 24 is removably connected within the connectionportion 13 of the pipe body, and the top mating portion 23 covers theopening portion 11 of the pipe body. The bottom mating portion 24 can beconnected with the connection portion 13 of the pipe body by aconnection way such as the thread connection, the key connection or thepin connection, so that the bottom mating portion 24 can be mounted inthe connection portion 13 of the pipe body, and also can be removed fromthe connection portion 13 of the pipe body.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, the sealed cavity 14 is filled with therefrigerant 3. By placing the refrigerant 3 in the sealed cavity 14, thesample cryogenic storage pipe 100 outside the liquid nitrogen can bekept at a low temperature for a period of time. The refrigerant 3 in thepresent application is an ultralow temperature coolant. The ultralowtemperature coolant, being a high molecular polymer which has aplurality of different traits: liquid state, semi liquid state, allsolid state, soft gel state and hard gel state, can maintain an ultralowtemperature from −30° to −80° for a certain time period. LD10-B1granular type, LD10-B2 gel type, LD10-B3 liquid type, LD10-B4 jellytype, LD10-B5 colloid type or LD10-B6 gel type can be the choice for therefrigerant 3.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the pipe cap mating portion 21 is provided witha vent 27 spaced apart from the sample loading rod 22, which runsthrough upper and lower surfaces of the pipe cap mating portion 21. Thevent 27 is specifically provided on the bottom mating portion 24, andruns through upper and lower surfaces of the bottom mating portion 24.The vent 27, spaced apart from the sample loading rod 22, is not in linewith the sample loading rod 22. The vent 27 can be provided on the mainbody of the bottom mating portion 24, or also can be provided at theedge of the bottom mating portion 24. The vent 27 maintains a balancebetween the gas-pressure in the sleeve 12 of the pipe body and thepressure outside, so as to avoid the situation that the pipe cap 2 ispushed out or the pipe body bursts due to the high pressure in thesleeve 12 of the pipe body when the liquid nitrogen volatilizes, andavoid the loss of the one or more samples.

In an exemplary embodiment, the cross-section of the storage groove 221is in a shape of U or in a shape of V. In use, the sample is placedwithin the V-shaped or U-shaped storage groove 221. When the sampleloading rod is moved, the one or more samples are kept within theV-shaped or U-shaped storage groove 221, to avoid the loss of the one ormore samples.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the pipe body 1 is provided with a markingregion 15 where information of the sample to be processed can be recodedfirstly so as to avoid confusion. The marking region 15 may berectangular or square; and the marking region 15 may be a transparentcoating or a coating with respective color. In an exemplary embodiment,the coating with white color has an area of 20 mm2-6000 mm2.

A usage of the sample cryogenic storage device 200 provided by thepresent application is as follows:

1. filling or pasting the sample information on the marking region 15 ofthe pipe body 1;

2. tightly connecting the operating lever 4 with the pipe cap 2 by meansof the bayonet portion 25, and removing the pipe cap 2 from the pipebody 1 by the operating lever 4, then the pipe cap 2 being set asidealong with the pipe body 1, for waiting to be used;

3. after the sample is processed by a cryoprotective agent, holding atransferring tool by one hand and holding the operating lever 4 by theother hand, orienting the storage groove 221 on the sample loading rod22 to face towards the operator himself/herself, and placing the sampleand a little amount of the cryoprotective agent within the storagegroove 221 by using the transferring tool;

4. then, holding the operating lever 4 by one hand to immediately placethe whole pipe cap 2 within clean liquid nitrogen and making sure itremains below the liquid level of the liquid nitrogen, and then pickingup the pipe body 1 with a pair of tweezers or forceps and placing itbelow the liquid level of the liquid nitrogen, standing for some time;

5. then, tightly connecting the pipe cap 2 with the pipe body 1 belowthe liquid level of the liquid nitrogen;

6. and then, taking off the operating lever 4 from the pipe cap 2, andplacing the sample cryogenic storage pipe 100 in a corresponding storageposition with the pair of tweezers or forceps, and making the respectiverecord.

By adopting the technical solution mentioned above, the beneficialeffects are as follows:

In the sample cryogenic storage pipe and sample cryogenic storage devicedisclosed above, by arranging the pipe cap in a one-piece manner, thepipe cap mating portion thereof is integrally formed with the sampleloading rod and there is no gap there between, and when the pipe cap istaken out of the liquid nitrogen, residual liquid nitrogen is nottrapped in the pipe cap. The sample cryogenic storage pipe and thesample cryogenic storage device provided by the present applicationavoids the defect of the loss of samples caused by a large amount ofbubbles released by the volatilization of the liquid nitrogen or cracksoccurred in the volatilization of the liquid nitrogen during storage.

In the sample cryogenic storage pipe and sample cryogenic storage devicedisclosed above, by providing a top mating portion of the pipe capmating portion with a bayonet portion, the sample cryogenic storage pipeand the sample cryogenic storage device are easy to connect with theoperating lever. In use, one end of the operating lever is connectedwith the bayonet portion, so that it is convenient for a user to moveand operate it.

By providing a vent, the sample cryogenic storage pipe and the samplecryogenic storage device maintains a balance between the gas-pressure inthe sleeve of the pipe body and the pressure outside, so as to avoid thesituation that the pipe cap is pushed out or the pipe body bursts due tohigh pressure in the sleeve of the pipe body when the liquid nitrogenvolatilizes, and avoids the loss of the samples.

By providing the pipe body with a marking region, the sample cryogenicstorage pipe and the sample cryogenic storage device can avoid theconfusion in use.

To sum up, the sample cryogenic storage pipe and the sample cryogenicstorage device disclosed above where there is no residual liquidnitrogen have features of simple structure and easy operation; andheight and width of the pipe body and the pipe cap thereof arereasonable, so that utilization of the cryogenic storage space can bemaximized, and detailed sample information can be marked in the markingregion, which does not cause confusion and uncertainty.

The technical solutions mentioned above can be combined as required toreach best technical effect.

The foregoing is merely embodiments of the present application. Itshould be pointed out that sever other variants also can be made on thebasis of the principle of the present application, which shall beincluded in the protection scope of the present application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sample cryogenic storage pipe, comprising: apipe body, comprising: an upper portion having an opening portion, asleeve deposited below the opening portion, a pipe wall, and a sealedcavity formed between the sleeve and the pipe wall; and a pipe capremovably coupled to the pipe body, comprising: a mating portionremovably coupled to the opening portion of the pipe body, and a sampleloading rod integrally formed with the mating portion, configured to bemoved into and out of the sleeve of the pipe body, and a storage groovefor storing a sample, disposed on at least one side of the sampleloading rod.
 2. The sample cryogenic storage pipe according to claim 1wherein the mating portion comprises: a top mating portion configured toremovably couple with an operating lever, and a bottom mating portionremovably coupled to the opening portion of the pipe body, wherein thetop mating portion comprises: a side wall disposed around the perimeterof the bottom mating portion, wherein the side wall has at least onebayonet mount opening, and a mounting cavity configured to receive theoperating lever, wherein the mounting cavity is formed by the side walland the bottom mating portion.
 3. The sample cryogenic storage pipeaccording to claim 2 wherein the at least one bayonet mount opening isan L-shaped opening having an open end at a top surface of the side walland a closed end disposed within the side wall.
 4. The sample cryogenicstorage pipe according to claim 3 wherein the closed end of the L-shapedopening comprises a recess extending toward the top surface of the sidewall.
 5. The sample cryogenic storage pipe according to claim 2 whereinthe pipe body further comprises a connection portion disposed betweenthe opening portion and the sleeve, wherein when the pipe cap is coupledto the pipe body, the bottom mating portion of the pipe cap removablycouples to the connection portion of the pipe body and the top matingportion of the pipe cap covers the opening portion of the pipe body. 6.The sample cryogenic storage pipe according to claim 1 wherein thesealed cavity is filled with a refrigerant.
 7. The sample cryogenicstorage pipe according to claim 1 wherein the mating portion of the pipecap further comprises a vent connecting an upper surface and a lowersurface of the mating portion, wherein the vent is spaced apart from thesample loading rod.
 8. The sample cryogenic storage pipe according toclaim 1 wherein the storage groove has a cross-section of a U-shape or aV-shape.
 9. The sample cryogenic storage pipe according to claim 1,wherein the pipe body comprises a marking region.
 10. A cryogenicstorage device, comprising: a storage pipe, comprising: a pipe body,comprising: an upper portion having an opening portion, a sleevedeposited below the opening portion, a pipe wall, and a sealed cavityformed between the sleeve and the pipe wall, and a pipe cap removablycoupled to the pipe body, comprising: a mating portion removably coupledto the opening portion of the pipe body, and a sample loading rodintegrally formed with the mating portion, configured to be moved intoand out of the sleeve of the pipe body, and a storage groove for storinga sample, disposed on at least one side of the sample loading rod, andan operating lever configured to removably couple to the mating portionof the pipe cap.
 11. The sample cryogenic storage device according toclaim 10 wherein the operating lever comprises: a main body, aconnection portion disposed at an end of the main body, and at least oneprotrusion extending outward from the main body on a lateral side of theconnection portion, wherein the mating portion comprises: a top matingportion configured to removably couple with the operating lever, and abottom mating portion removably coupled to the opening portion of thepipe body, wherein the top mating portion comprises: a side walldisposed around the perimeter of the bottom mating portion, wherein theside wall has at least one bayonet mount opening, the at least onebayonet mount opening is configured to receive the at least oneprotrusion from the main body of the operating lever, and a mountingcavity configured to receive the operating lever, wherein the mountingcavity is formed by the side wall and the bottom mating portion.
 12. Thesample cryogenic storage device according to claim 11 wherein the atleast one bayonet mount opening is an L-shaped opening having an openend at a top surface of the side wall and a closed end disposed withinthe side wall, and wherein the at least one protrusion is engaged withinthe L-shaped bayonet mount opening.
 13. The sample cryogenic storagedevice according to claim 12 wherein the closed end of the L-shapedopening comprises a recess extending toward the top surface of the sidewall, and wherein the protrusion is engaged within the recess.
 14. Thesample cryogenic storage device according to claim 11 wherein theconnection portion of the operating lever comprises an elastic memberconfigured to be compressed when the connection portion of the operatinglever couples within the mounting cavity.
 15. The sample cryogenicstorage device according to claim 11, wherein the pipe body furthercomprises a connection portion disposed between the opening portion andthe sleeve, wherein when the pipe cap is coupled to the pipe body, thebottom mating portion of the pipe cap removably couples to theconnection portion of the pipe body and the top mating portion of thepipe cap covers the opening portion of the pipe body.
 16. The samplecryogenic storage device according to claim 10 wherein the sealed cavityis filled with a refrigerant.
 17. The sample cryogenic storage deviceaccording to claim 10 wherein the mating portion of the pipe cap furthercomprises a vent connecting an upper surface and a lower surface of themating portion, wherein the vent being spaced apart from the sampleloading rod.
 18. The sample cryogenic storage device according to claim10 wherein the storage groove has a cross-section of a U-shape or aV-shape.
 19. The sample cryogenic storage device according to claim 10wherein the pipe body further comprises a marking region.